A New Way to Look at Line-Breaking Passes

Introducing our new metrics that quantify football’s most underrated passes, from World Cup data to player roles

Football analytics has deeper roots than many people presume, dating back to the 1940s. One of the earliest known examples is Charles Reep, a former Royal Air Force officer who began manually recording every pass, shot, and movement while watching matches from the stands. His meticulous note-taking was the beginning of a data-informed approach to understanding the game. His work, later described by The Journal of Sports Sciences as that of "the first performance analyst in professional football," laid the foundation for data-driven thinking in the sport. Although his conclusions about direct play caused debate, his influence on early football analytics is undeniable. Over the following decades, the field evolved slowly but steadily. By the 1990s, companies like Opta, Prozone and Amisco began collecting structured data on passes, shots, and tackles, offering a more systematic view of the game. The 2010s saw a major leap: GPS trackers and multi-angle cameras enabled a much deeper understanding of player positioning, movement, and team tactics. New metrics like Expected Goals (xG) gained traction, shifting the focus from simply counting goals to evaluating the quality of chances created.

Now, in the 2020s, we’re entering a new era with real-time analysis, machine learning, and combined data from both events and tracking. These tools give us deeper insights like how much pressure a team is applying, how valuable certain passes are, or how players break through defensive lines, things we couldn’t properly see before. What’s really exciting is that clubs are no longer just experimenting with this on the side. Depending on their strategy, resources, and objectives, many teams are building their own data departments, focusing not only on smart scouting, player development but also on improving performance, preventing injuries, and analysing their opponents. Data is no longer just numbers on a spreadsheet; it’s becoming part of the game itself.

In this piece, we're diving into something more technical but very relevant: Line Breaking Passes. In general, these are the magic passes that slice right through one or more lines of the opposing team, like their midfield or defensive blocks, and find a teammate hidden behind. When that happens, the defence is usually caught flat-footed, or as we say, their “line is broken.” The player receiving the ball usually has more space, less pressure, and a much better chance to do something dangerous, like score or assist. It’s like finding an open back door; once you get in, the rest is simple. As an example, think of a midfielder who plays an accurate pass right through the opponent’s midfield, perfectly finding a forward on the run. As well as a defender passing a direct vertical ball to the winger or striker, skipping past all the chaos and pressure like it’s just a walk on the beach. It’s not just pretty to watch, it’s tactical gold.

Why does it matter so much in football analysis? Because, these passes break down organised defences and open up clear scoring opportunities. In modern analytics, they play a significant role in models like XT (Expected Threat) and OBV (On-Ball Value). These metrics don’t just count goals or shots; they reward smart, game-changing plays that shift the balance on the pitch. So, the next time you see a pass slice through the defence like someone pressing a 🔺triangle at the perfect moment, you’re watching one of football’s most valuable moves in action. In our latest paper, we introduce a novel, data-driven framework to detect and measure LBPs using a clustering-based model of defensive structure and leveraging synchronised event and tracking data from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

If you're curious to dive deeper into the methodology and see how we developed these metrics using World Cup tracking data, you can read our full research paper [here]. It includes all technical details, references, and examples behind the ideas explored in this piece.

Figure 1: Line Breaking Pass (LBP) vs Progressive Pass.

The Passes That Really Matter: Line-Breaking vs. Progressive Explained

Let’s begin with a fundamental concept, as it’s crucial for everything that comes next: the difference between progressive and line-breaking passes. A progressive pass moves the ball significantly forward towards the opponent’s goal, helping your team gain ground, usually covering at least 10 to 20 meters in the direction of play. Whereas a line-breaking pass specifically cuts through the opponent’s defensive or midfield lines, reaching a teammate behind those lines. So, while most of the line-breaking passes are already progressive, not all the progressive ones can break through defensive lines. Progressive passes advance the play, but line-breaking passes disrupt the defence and create more dangerous chances. Sometimes, a pass does both as it covers the ground and slips past the defence. That’s the kind of pass that shifts momentum and tilts the pitch in your favour. Both coaches and analysts agree that these passes are absolutely crucial. In fact, LBPs almost double the chance of leading to a goal compared to regular passes.

To put it simply, we basically tried to bring everything under one roof. While others looked at line-breaking passes, team shape, and structure one by one, we combined them all in a single method. Instead of using pre-set rules, we looked at how defenders are actually positioned during each pass and spotted when those lines get broken. This way, we can directly measure how much a team disrupts the opponent and moves forward and get way more tactical insight along the way.

We use the publicly available 2022 FIFA World Cup dataset released by PFF FC, which provides synchronised event and tracking data for all 64 matches. The method provides detailed spatio-temporal analyses of player behaviour, team structure, and ball progression. In summary, all the games we analysed included event data, tracking data, metadata and roster data.

®️Say Hello to Our New Metrics 🚀

Space Build-Up Ratio
We used vertical segmentation to model the opponent's shape during each pass. That means we took a snapshot of where the defenders are grouped, using clustering, so we could track which segment of the defence the pass is trying to break through. When we talk about breaking structure, it’s not just about beating the defensive line, it’s also about what kind of space you’re moving into. That’s where our SBR (Space Build-up Ratio) comes in.

In simple terms, it checks whether the pass leads the ball to a more open area. Imagine this: if the receiver of the pass has fewer defenders around his proximity than the passer did, that means you’ve found a better pocket of space. And that’s a win. If the number is positive, you're escaping pressure. If it’s negative, you’re sending your teammate into a crowd, not exactly ideal. We use this volume to compare different line-breaking passes and understand how much they really open up the game. Think of it as a way to measure “how smart was that pass? It helps us to quantify how good that line-breaking pass is.

An example figure is shown below with an example LBP that opens up space (that means an LBP with a positive SBR value).

Figure 2: An example of LBP with positive SBR. The passer is under pressure, with the nearest defender within 2 meters. Despite this, the pass breaks two defensive lines, travels over 30 meters, and is highly vertical, qualifying as both progressive and line-breaking. Crucially, it also creates significant forward space for the receiver, enhancing the attacking opportunity beyond simple progression.

LBP Volume

Starting simple works best. How frequently does a team or player attempt to break lines? That’s what LBP Volume is all about. The more of these passes we see, the more it tells us about a team’s playing style: are they trying to take control, move forward with purpose, and disrupt the structure? It doesn’t always mean success, but it shows intent. At a player level, it identifies those who actively look for gaps, typically midfielders or inverted full-backs who find spaces others miss. High volume doesn’t always equal high quality, but it’s a strong indicator of an attacking mindset.

Direct Vertical Threat (LBPCh1 - LBP → Chance)

Now, let’s zoom in on the passes that really make a difference. LBPCh1 measures the kind of passes that lead directly to a shot or assist in the same possession, no time wasted. These are the moments when a team breaks the structure and immediately turns that into a chance. They’re sharp, fast, and decisive. You often see this with creative midfielders or forwards dropping deep, receiving the ball between the lines, and instantly opening up the defence. If LBP Volume is about frequency, LBPCh1 is about impact. It's a pure attacking threat.

Wanna see it from a recent example? Let’s have a close look at Hakimi’s Goal, Doue’s assist and Vitinha’s LBPCh1 in UCL Final 2025’s 1st goal for PSG. Check out the goal here.

Sustained Vertical Progression (LBPCh2 - LBP → LBP → Chance)

However, not every attack happens right away. Sometimes breaking down a defence takes a few smart passes in a row and step by step, to move forward as a team. That’s exactly what LBPCh2 is about: it shows those moments when a team keeps pushing after the first line-break and turns it into something bigger.

It tells us who can not only identify weaknesses in the system, but also exploit them with patience and precision. Think of those teams that don't rush, but keep progressing forward, breaking lines again and again until the chance is clear. This metric highlights a team's sustained, collective vertical momentum.

An example? Sure, this time let’s look at a controversial game back in 2022 at the FIFA World Cup between Argentina vs Saudi Arabia. You will see Lautaro Martinez’s disallowed goal - a great LBPCh2 example: Molina’s short header LBP followed by Papu Gomes’ line crushing pass to Lautaro, and goal. But unfortunately, it was offside. Check out here.

Figure 3: SBR & LBPCh1 & LBPCh2 (1: Passer, 2:Receiver (also a Passer in LBPCh2), D: closest opposition player, LBP ends with either shot, assist or goal).

Testing Things Out

Here's what the data reveals: we analysed which teams and players most frequently broke through defensive shapes with line-breaking passes during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Across 64 matches and over 21,000 passes, our model picked out 7,477 LBPs, that’s roughly 117 per game. So, who really tried to play through the lines? Unsurprisingly, teams like Spain, Argentina, France, and Croatia stood out.

When you see the names of these teams, the average football fan will probably think of players like Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Antoine Griezmann, Luka Modric, and Lionel Messi. However, looking at the list, it’s fair to say there’s a strong Pep Guardiola influence at play. Seeing three of his students, Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, and John Stones, right at the top brought a little smile to our faces. It’s not just about individual brilliance, though. What stands out even more is how these players embody a certain football philosophy: control, game intelligence, positional awareness. It’s almost as if the list doesn’t just reflect talent, but also the evolution of the modern game through the Guardiola lens. And that’s where it gets even more interesting.

Players like Rodri, Gvardiol, and Stones don’t just play it sideways, they break lines, take risks, and start movements that actually deliver results. They’re like the quarterbacks of modern build-up play. Calm on the ball, sharp in their decisions, and always looking for a pass that tilts the field. This isn’t just about flashy assists or final balls, it’s about reading the game, understanding spacing, and playing intentionally. And those who do it well? They’re the ones dictating the rhythm.

Figure 4: The most Frequent Line-Breaker Teams & Players. Bubble size indicates the total number of defensive lines broken.

Evaluating line-breaking passes requires more than counting, it requires context. In the team-level view, Croatia, Argentina, Spain and France top the raw LBP count, but look at Serbia and South Korea: fewer passes overall, but a much higher percentage of them are designed to punch through defensive lines. That's a clear tactical identity; less ball circulation, more incision. On the player side, Josko Gvardiol is a unicorn. He breaks lines more often than any other player in the tournament and does it with volume and efficiency. While players like Otamendi, Andersen and Süle have sky-high LBP percentages, it's Gvardiol who combines frequency with consistent structural damage, racking up line breaks like a deep-lying playmaker in disguise. Meanwhile, midfield metronomes like Rodri stay involved with volume but opt for safer, more circulatory passes. Different roles, different responsibilities, but one goal: progression.

Figure 5: The Top 50 Players for Space Progression Effectiveness. Darker colours represent greater verticality, whilst larger bubble sizes indicate longer pass distances.

We’re not just looking at how frequently players break lines, but how much space they actually open up when they do. Aurélien Tchouaméni: high volume, high payoff. His LBPs don’t just break structure, they explode space, creating more cumulative buildup value than anyone else in the tournament. Joško Gvardiol shows up again, but this time alongside Dejan Lovren and Pedri, players who combine reliable space creation with solid volume. Then there’s Sofyan Amrabat, whose line breaks were frequent and vertical, but didn’t always yield much space, tight midfield control over long-range chaos. On the other end, Joachim Andersen reminds us that quantity is not equal to quality. Despite high LBP volume, almost none opened up usable space, proof that "breaking the line" on paper doesn’t always disrupt a defence.

Figure 6: Players & Team Level Direct LBP Chances (LBPCh1) Comparison. Bar colours indicate the average verticality of the accumulated LBPCh1 events.

Here is what LBPCh¹ tracks: direct, vertical passes that pierce lines and immediately lead to a shot or assist. France and Spain top the team leaderboard, but it’s South Korea who steal the show with their ruthlessly efficient vertical play. On the player side, Theo Hernández is in a league of his own with four chance-creating LBPs, showcasing the modern fullback's evolution into a creative engine. But don’t sleep on Ampadu, Juranovic, or Amrabat; each combines high verticality with clever disruption in build-up.

Figure 7: All LBPCh2 Sequences in the FIFA World Cup 2022.

LBPCh² is where things get beautifully complex: two consecutive line-breaking passes that lead to a shot, assist, or goal. Only 13 of these unicorn sequences appeared in the entire World Cup, but they’re pure tactical poetry. Argentina executed two of them, both disallowed for offside, but both orchestrated by Papu Gómez, who operated like a midfield metronome. Morocco’s En-Nesyri finished the only goal-scoring chain, powered by Aguerd and Hakimi, a perfect example of how a backline can launch vertical chaos. France’s Rabiot, Mbappé, and Dembele moves delivered the highest spatial damage, clocking nearly 30 in cumulative SBR.

Breaking Beyond the Lines

It’s easy to fall in love with beautiful moments, goals, celebrations, and drama. But modern football is increasingly shaped by what happens before all that. In an era where the margins are extremely tight and a single pass can change the game, clubs have turned to data not just to describe the event, but to better understand it. This change is about more than just tracking numbers; it’s about exploring the tactical decisions and patterns that shape the game at its core.

Line-Breaking Passes (LBPs) offer one of the most insightful glimpses into tactical strategy. More than simple exchanges between players, they are bold statements of intent, reflecting a team's ambition to exploit defensive lines and control the rhythm of the game. Each LBP represents a willingness to take risks, break structures, and advance with purpose. That’s why so many top-level clubs are now investing in models that go beyond surface stats and zoom in on the dynamics behind progression. The number of performance analysis tools and frameworks being adopted, both internally and by external analytics teams, is rapidly expanding. The demand for more intelligent and insightful metrics has reached new heights. This growing appetite reflects a broader shift in how football is analysed, with a focus on understanding not just what happens on the pitch, but how and why it happens.

This shift isn’t just about quantity, but quality. It’s about how a team breaks lines and what happens next. Through our research paper, we introduced not just a model that detects LBPs, but three deeper dimensions: LBPCh1, which captures the direct impact of a line-breaking pass ending in a shot or assist. LBPCh2, which measures the sustained vertical momentum of chains of LBPs in the same phase of play. Space Build Up Ratio (SBR) evaluates how much a line-breaking pass truly opens up the game by moving the ball into advantageous space. These metrics allow us to turn the spotlight from generic “ball progression” to more nuanced storylines about how control is gained, structure is disrupted, and opportunities are built.

LBPCh1 is all about sharpness, the kind of pass that bites. Think of those split-second moments when a deep-lying playmaker or inverted full-back breaks shape and, in a matter of seconds, the team is inside the opponent’s box. These moments are rare, valuable, and usually associated with players who perform under pressure with both vision and pace. LBPs that fall into this category are often crucial, not just tactically, but mentally as well. They lift the game by disrupting structure and turning pressure into opportunity within seconds.

LBPCh2 highlights patience, showcasing teams that methodically build their attacks step by step. These are sequences that rarely get attention from random fans, but they should. They reflect sustained tactical superiority. The ability to break one line, reset, and then break another while keeping the opponent off balance is a hallmark of teams like Spain or Croatia.

And when we look at the top contributors, it’s no surprise to see names like Gvardiol, Pedri, Modric, and the others stand out. These are players who aren't just passers, they shape the tempo, read the gaps, and make the invisible visible. Their presence in the top LBP rankings isn't random; it reflects deep tactical intelligence and the trust they’re given to orchestrate from the back or midfield. We’re proud of those metrics we’ve developed, not for the sake of innovation itself, but for its purpose. Our aim was never to add noise, but to offer a sharper lens on verticality in football. These metrics are still evolving, and we’re already thinking about how to improve weighting, context, and sequence integration. One thing is clear, though: LBPs are an underrated currency in the data conversation. And we’re just getting started.

There’s still a long way to go. And yet, key moments still get overlooked. Take something as simple and as crucial as an LBP chain. These are too often missing from post-match summaries and highlights. A perfect example: En-Nesyri’s goal against Canada (World Cup 2022, Group F game), where the initial line-breaking pass that set up the move was not featured in most major highlights. It’s a shame, because that pass was the real catalyst behind the goal, the moment that made everything else possible.

This highlights something more fundamental: the way fans watch and talk about football needs to evolve. Our obsession with the final third often makes us blind to the groundwork. But if we want to really understand how goals are built, not just scored, then the focus must shift. Coaches, analysts, and performance specialists are already aware of this, but it’s time for fans to join the conversation. Football analytics is evolving. The way fans experience the game can evolve, too. We’re living in a football era where the tiniest margins decide seasons. Just look at the Serie A and Ligue 1 battles for Champions League spots this season. Every LBP poses a question to the defence: Are you ready? With more sophisticated tools and evaluations, including ML models, we can now track not only how often these questions are asked, but also who dares to ask them.